A firm providing website and practice development services to the accounting industry.

These systems also keep employees informed of how much paid time off they have left, help streamline the payroll process, cut down on overtime costs and let managers easily create work schedules.

Additionally, time and attendance systems give businesses added financial insight into their companies by churning out a variety of reports on employee hours and provide an audit trail for all daily time entries, timesheet corrections and approvals.

To highlight the benefits of these tools, several time and attendance experts offer some specific plusses of using such a system.

Improve workforce productivity

In a business environment, where people are asked to do more with less, repetitive manual and administrative tasks strain resources and slow down day-to-day operations, said Frank Moreno, director of product marketing at Kronos Incorporated, which offers its own time and attendance system. Without automated time and attendance systems, he said, employees often have to fill out time sheets that managers or payroll departments must then re-key in a different system so employees can get paid.

“With a time and attendance system, you can manage by exception instead of having to review every timecard,” Moreno said. “In a matter of minutes, you can find and correct missed punches, respond to time-off requests, and even access and react to labor data in real-time to have a positive effect on your business.”

Extra insight

Digital time and attendance systems give a business added financial insight into how the company is being run, said Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets Time Tracking, a time and attendance system.

“The insight into labor expenses, project costs and overall financial analysis are true benefits to businesses using a quality time and attendance system,” Risell told Business News Daily. “Compiling time-tracking data in real time is critical to payroll reporting, invoicing and job-costing accuracy.”

Saves money

Moving from a manual system to a digital time and attendance solution will save businesses money, which is one of the biggest reasons to make the change, said Jim Wacek, president of the time and attendance division for Insperity, which offers TimeStar, a time and attendance solution.

“Organizations that implement time and attendance systems typically save 3 to five 5 of payroll costs, because the system automates time tracking processes and increases payroll accuracy,” Wacek said.

Lowers frustration

Using a time and attendance system that makes sure employees are getting paid on time and properly helps keep frustration at low levels for everyone in a company, Rissell said. That includes hourly employees, managers, payroll staff, human resources professionals and the owner.

“Inaccurate and slow payroll, manual and error-prone duplicate entry, and the inability to track performance, labor costs, job costing and financials is frustrating for everyone within the company,” Rissell said.

Minimize compliance risk

Businesses that use time and attendance systems benefit from ensuring they are complying with the numerous labor laws and regulations that apply to them, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and Family Medical Leave Act, as well as any union regulations and company-specific work and pay rules, Moreno said.

“Maintaining compliance can be time-consuming, costly and sometimes lead to morale-busting employee grievances,” Moreno said. “Automation also helps ensure you create a culture of compliance with centralized labor policies that keep pace with changing regulations, while ensuring compliance by taking work rule interpretation out of the hands of local managers and administrators.”

Higher employee morale

Time and attendance systems can also boost morale by giving employees the ability to clock in and out, request vacation days and monitor how much time off they have left, Rissell said.

“A boost in productivity, a mutual respect between managers and employees with realistic expectations, and workplace flexibility are just three of the major contributing factors to employees experiencing an increase in morale when given control over tracking their time,” Rissell said.

As a business owner, time is your most valuable asset. The more time you have to develop and manage your business, the more successful it will be. At Baker Tilly Gibraltar we help develop and improve accounting systems and controls, comply with industry and fiscal requirements, as well as changing regulations, and we account for complex transactions.

We can provide you with regular and reliable accounting information enabling you to monitor the progress of your organisation and make informed business decisions. We believe in working together with our clients to deliver a tailor made service that meets your individual needs and provides solutions so you and your business succeed.

Whatever the size of your business, give yourself more time for what you do best – running your business. We can help with the rest!

Bookkeeping

Our dedicated accounts team will undertake all aspects of your bookkeeping. Whatever the size of your business, we are here to help you run things smoothly according to your own particular needs.

Accounting information is sent directly to our Management Accounting services department for recording in your accounting records on computer.

Our bookkeeping services include:

Purchase and sales ledger

Trial balance

Bank reconciliations

Control account reconciliations

Customer statements, as required.

Management Accounting

We provide businesses with all aspects of your management and financial accounts according to your individual requirements.

Management accounts can include the following reports:

Profit and Loss – for the business and analysed by department if required.

Balance sheet

Cash flow statements

Analysis of any profit and loss or balance sheet captions if required.

Our advisers can:

Put the figures into perspective. We’ll be able to discuss them with you to determine what the management accounts actually say about the state of your business.

Develop reports on all the vital aspects of your business so you know where you stand and can make decisions quickly.

Help you establish effective budgetary and cash flow processes so you know how much money you have to run your business.

Identify with you the key performance indicators for your business and together decide what other factors are significant.

Other Services

For clients with an in-house accounting function we Can assist with :

Management accounts preparation

Review and monitoring of accounts and control account reconciliations.

Preparation of Accounts

We can prepare year-end statutory accounts from the management accounts system in readiness for the annual audit and filing at Companies House.

The year- end statutory accounts and the accounts for filing purposes (if applicable) would be the logical conclusion to our involvement in the bookkeeping and/or preparation of management accounts.

We follow strict controls and procedures to assist you in your responsibilities to ensure that the statutory accounts, including group accounts (if applicable), comply with relevant laws and regulations and generally accepted accounting practices in Gibraltar.

We can also assist in the preparation of accounts for filing in Companies House.

Requirement to maintain the books and records in the local jurisdiction

There is no requirement for Gibraltar funds to maintain their books and records in Gibraltar. However it should be noted that management and control of the fund needs to be in Gibraltar and usually the administrator will maintain the accounting records. A Gibraltar administrator must be appointed.

Experienced Investor Funds are required to produce annual financial statements under the Financial Services (experienced investor funds) Regulations 2005. The audited financial statements must be submitted to the FSC within six months of the period end.

If the fund is structured as a corporate entity, there are also annual accounts requirements under the Companies Act and the Companies (Accounts) Act 1999.

For corporate vehicles, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and two directors are required to sign balance sheet of the annual financial statements. For trusts, the trustee takes responsibility for the preparation of the annual financial statements. Two trustees sign the balance sheet.

A statement of compliance should be submitted to the Commissioner within four months of the end of the accounting period. The Statement of Compliance is un-audited.

Choice of period/year-end for collective investment funds

Gibraltar funds can choose their own year-end. Once chosen, public funds cannot alter the year-end without the prior approval of the Financial Services Commission.

Restrictions on the currency under which financial statements must be prepared

There are no restrictions. The base currency is specified in the formation documents of the fund.

Accounting publications specific to the funds industry (as issued by accounting bodies or the regulators)

There are no accounting publications specific to the funds industry in Gibraltar as IFRSs or U.K. accounting standards and any technical material issued in the

United Kingdom are generally followed.

In relation to public funds, the Code of Practice issued under the Financial Services (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations 2006 provides details of the contents and disclosures for the annual and interim accounts together with disclosure requirements for auditors, managers, and trustees/custodians.

Use of short-form accounts

Short-form accounts are not permitted under Gibraltar law and regulations.

Umbrella schemes

For corporate entities, financial statements must be prepared for the company as a whole. There is also a requirement to produce separate financial statements for each sub-fund.

For unit trust umbrella funds, there is no requirement to produce financial statements for the umbrella, however, they are permitted. There is a requirement to produce separate financial statements for each sub fund.

In all cases, information on each sub-fund as stipulated by legislation should be included within the report of the manager.

Classes of shares

Financial statements are required which incorporate all classes of shares.

There is no requirement to produce financial statements for each class of share, unless each class of share represents a separate sub-fund (such as, protected cell companies) in which please refer to umbrella funds above.

1. This foreword explains the authority, scope and application of Gibraltar Accounting Standards (GASs) issued by the Gibraltar Society of Accountants (GSA) and the circumstances whereby other internationally recognised accounting standards may instead be followed. The scope of GAS extends to entities licensed or authorised by the Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) unless the applicable legislation requires or the FSC permits the adoption of alternative accounting standards. This foreword also considers the procedures by which the GSA issues GASs and their relationship to accounting standards adopted or issued by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) in the United Kingdom.

Accounting Standards in the United Kingdom

2. Accounting Standards issued by the ASB are “accounting standards” for the purpose of United Kingdom legislation which requires accounts, other than those prepared by small or medium sized companies (as defined by the UK Companies Act), to state whether they have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting stansdards and to give particulars of any material departure from those standards and the reasons for it.

3. In addition the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) is committed to promoting and supporting compliance with accounting standards by its member bodies and by their members, whether as preparers or auditors of financial information.

4. United Kingdom accounting standards, however, are not intended to apply to financial statements of overseas entities prepared for local purposes.

Gibraltar Legal Requirements

5. The GSA notes that Gibraltar Company law makes reference to, but does not define, the terms „Appropriate Accounting Standards‟, „Generally Accepted Accounting Principles‟ and „Accounting Rules‟ (collectively referred hereafter as “GAAP”). In absence of any statutory definition of GAAP, the GSA recommends that members follow the recommendations set out in paragraph 8 below. In addition Gibraltar Company law permits the use of International Financial Reporting Standards.

Authority

6. The GSA, whilst recognising that it does not have the authority to require its members to observe a particular GAAP, wishes to promote a formal framework for the preparation of accounts.

7. The GSA also notes that, commensurate with Gibraltar‟s status as an international offshore finance centre, there will be circumstances whereby internationally recognised accounting standards will be more appropriate. As mentioned in paragraph 5 above, Gibraltar Company law specifically permits the use of International Financial Reporting Standards.

8. Therefore, the GSA strongly recommends that its members who assume responsibilities in respect of financial statements do observe GASs or, where appropriate, follow instead internationally recognised accounting standards, as referred to in paragraph 11 below, whether in their capacity as preparers or auditors of financial information.

Scope and application of Gibraltar Accounting Standards

9. The GSA consider that GASs are applicable to the financial statements of Gibraltar reporting entities that are intended to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs at the balance sheet date and of its profit or loss (or income and expenditure) for the financial period ending on that date. GASs need not be applied to immaterial items.

10. Financial statements are normally prepared and presented annually and are directed principally toward the information needs of an entity‟s shareholders, proprietors or equivalent body of persons.

11. Where these information needs are such that they would be better met through the use of standards other than GASs then it is entirely appropriate to depart from GAS and a local entity‟s financial statements may in such circumstances be prepared in accordance with internationally recognised accounting standards such as International Accounting Standards, UK GAAP or US GAAP.

Compliance with accounting standards

12. Accounting standards are statements of how particular types of transactions and other events should be reflected in financial statements, and are formulated with the objective of ensuring that the information resulting from their application faithfully represents the underlying commercial activity. The GSA envisages that only in exceptional circumstances will departure from the requirements of GASs (or where appropriate internationally recognised 5accounting standards) be necessary in order for financial statements to give a true and fair view.

13. In applying accounting standards it is important to be guided by the spirit and reasoning behind them. The spirit and reasoning are set out in the individual GASs and are based on the ASB‟s Statement of Principles for Financial Reporting.

14. If in exceptional circumstances compliance with the requirements of a GAS is inconsistent with the requirement to give a true and fair view, the requirement of the GAS should be departed from to the extent necessary to give a true and fair view. In such cases informed and unbiased judgement should be used to devise an appropriate alternative treatment, which should be consistent with the economic and commercial characteristics of the circumstances concerned. Particulars of any material departure from an accounting standard, the reasons for it and its financial effects should be disclosed in financial statements.

The issue of Gibraltar Accounting Standards

15. The GSA has agreed to formally adopt United Kingdom accounting standards as issued by the ASB, which will be accompanied by Interpretative Notes (ITN’s). The principal purpose of ITN‟s is to cite the recommended practice in situations where Gibraltar and United Kingdom legislation conflict and also in situations where reference is made in the ASB‟s accounting standards to United Kingdom legislation and no corresponding Gibraltar legislation has been enacted.

16. The ITN, issued by the Society, together with the ASB‟s accounting standard is referred to as a Gibraltar Financial Reporting Standard (“GFRSs”) or Gibraltar Statement of Standard Accounting Standards (“GSSAPs”). GFRSs together with GSSAPs are collectively referred to as Gibraltar Accounting Standards.

17. GASs are circulated as an exposure draft by the GSA‟s Technical Committee. An exposure draft is published to allow an opportunity for all interested parties to comment on the proposals and for the Technical Committee to gauge the appropriateness and level of acceptance of those proposals.

18. Although the Technical Committee weighs carefully the views of interest parties, the ultimate content of an ITN must be determined by the Committee‟s judgement, in conjunction with the Society‟s President, based on research, public consultation and careful deliberation about the

There’s no substitute for an accounting pro who knows the ins and outs of tax law, but today’s desktop packages can help you with everything from routine bookkeeping to payroll, taxes, and planning. Each package also produces files that you can hand off to an accountant as needed.

Small-business managers have more accounting software options than ever, including subscription Web-based options that don’t require their users to install or update software. Many businesses, however–including those that need to track large inventories or client databases, and those that prefer not to entrust their data to the cloud–may be happier with a desktop tool.

We looked at three general-purpose, small-business accounting packages: Acclivity AccountEdgePro 2012 (both the product and the company were previously called MYOB), Intuit QuickBooks Premier 2012, and Sage’s Sage 50 Complete 2013 (the successor to Peachtree Complete). All three packages offer a solid array of tools for tracking income and expenses, invoicing, managing payroll, and creating reports.

These full-featured and highly mature programs don’t come cheap. Acclivity AccountEdge Pro, at $299, is the least expensive; and prices climb if you opt to use common time-saving add-ons such as payroll services, or if you add licenses for multiple user accounts.

All three are solid on the basics, but they have distinct differences in style and focus. The more you know about your accounting requirements, the more closely you’ll want to look at the software you’re thinking of buying.

Sage 50 Complete should appeal most to people who understand the fine points of accounting and can use the product’s many customization features (especially for businesses that manage inventory).

QuickBooks works hard to appeal to newbies who need only the basics and might be intimidated by the level of detail and technical language exposed in the other two packages. At the same time, it also has a slew of third-party add-ons that meet specific needs and greatly expand its capabilities.

AccountEdge Pro balances accessibility with a strong feature set at an affordable price. It’s especially suitable for businesses that need to provide simultaneous access to multiple users.

The very fact that you’re reading this marks a milestone. Would you have been interested in a “cloud based” accounting application only a few years ago? Probably not. You were probably, like myself and most small business owners, still trying to get your arms around the cloud and doubting that you would ever entrust your most critical financial data to some outside company. But things have changed. Online, or cloud financial applications, are slowly but surely becoming the norm. Many small business owners are taking notice, particularly because of their benefits.

And the benefits are many: access from anywhere, integration with other popular third party cloud applications and banking software, better backup, quicker bug fixes, immediate access to upgrades. And, let’s face it: better security. No cloud provider, not even the Department of Defense, can provide 100% security against hackers. But with so many threats today many business owners are reluctantly agreeing that their financial data is probably better secured by a cloud provider whose business model is reliant on security than on their own server that’s looked after maybe once a month by their local IT guy.

And now we hit the next milestone: the first comprehensive book on the market that reviews the leading small business cloud accounting applications. It was released just last week in the form of an ebook, is called Online Accounting Software: Finding the Right Match and can be downloaded for $79.95 here. The book is produced by the Sleeter Group, an independent consulting firm that boasts 700 accounting experts who provide software and process consulting services to more than 300,000 small businesses. The company also produces reference books, webinars, seminars, and a very popular annual Accounting Solutions Conference and Tradeshow, among other services.

The ebook reviews these cloud accounting applications for micro and small businesses: QuickBooks Online, Xero, Cheqbook, Kashoo, Wave, Zoho Books, and FreshBooks. Here’s what I learned from reading it:

1. Online applications are not for everyone. Although the benefits are many, the book stresses that there are tradeoffs, including their dependence on a good internet connection and a culture that accepts less control over your data. As I’ll further describe below these applications mostly lack certain advanced features, have potential data and user limitations and contain less functionality for certain vertical industries.

2. The applications reviewed are still immature. Most do a good job handling the accounting basics, from invoicing to payables management to general ledger postings. But companies looking for more complex processing such as advanced inventory management, purchase order control, human resources, CRM and detailed fixed asset management are not good candidates for these products. End users looking for the ability to significantly customize the applications or implement advanced workflow processes will likely also find themselves disappointed.

3. The applications are mostly horizontal. Right now, they’re designed to handle the bookkeeping needs of most small businesses, regardless of their industry. But most small businesses I know have more industry specific requirements and will not have their needs addressed with these services. I’m keeping my eye on some of the up and coming online products not reviewed, like Plex for manufacturers and ServiceMax for people in the service industry, as well as bigger players like Intacct and NetSuite. The author’s approach for this book was to focus only on applications for micro-business, small business and invoicing. I’m not so sure they had much of a choice otherwise. There are few players on the market yet who do much else.

4. Online applications are positioned for an online world. They are all geared towards the mobile user, with access from iPhones, iPads and Android devices. They like to integrate with banks and online payment services. They are fighting with each other to partner with other online leaders like PayPal, Square, Bill.com and DropBox.

5. There are data and user limitations. As previously mentioned, the applications reviewed in this ebook are all geared towards micro and small businesses. To this end, the reviewers warn that even though some of the service providers say they can handle as many as a thousand transactions a month or even unlimited users you should still do your due diligence.

The book does a good job at breaking down and comparing the most popular deliverables offered by these applications and covers 18 categories of functionality including reporting, sales tax, inventory, job costing, payroll and fixed asset tracking in addition to the basic accounting and banking features. My only suggestion is to consider offering the book as a paid for monthly or annual service that’s continuously updated, just like the products it reviews. That way I can be assured of the most current information while I go through my research.

The Sleeter Group also steps up and names which online accounting products are the best for both the micro and small business categories. And who are the winners? Oh, wouldn’t you like to know.

There’s no substitute for an accounting pro who knows the ins and outs of tax law, but today’s desktop packages can help you with everything from routine bookkeeping to payroll, taxes, and planning. Each package also produces files that you can hand off to an accountant as needed.

Small-business managers have more accounting software options than ever, including subscription Web-based options that don’t require their users to install or update software. Many businesses, however–including those that need to track large inventories or client databases, and those that prefer not to entrust their data to the cloud–may be happier with a desktop tool.

We looked at three general-purpose, small-business accounting packages: Acclivity AccountEdgePro 2012 (both the product and the company were previously called MYOB), Intuit QuickBooks Premier 2012, and Sage’s Sage 50 Complete 2013 (the successor to Peachtree Complete). All three packages offer a solid array of tools for tracking income and expenses, invoicing, managing payroll, and creating reports.

These full-featured and highly mature programs don’t come cheap. Acclivity AccountEdge Pro, at $299, is the least expensive; and prices climb if you opt to use common time-saving add-ons such as payroll services, or if you add licenses for multiple user accounts.

All three are solid on the basics, but they have distinct differences in style and focus. The more you know about your accounting requirements, the more closely you’ll want to look at the software you’re thinking of buying.

Sage 50 Complete should appeal most to people who understand the fine points of accounting and can use the product’s many customization features (especially for businesses that manage inventory).

QuickBooks works hard to appeal to newbies who need only the basics and might be intimidated by the level of detail and technical language exposed in the other two packages. At the same time, it also has a slew of third-party add-ons that meet specific needs and greatly expand its capabilities.

AccountEdge Pro balances accessibility with a strong feature set at an affordable price. It’s especially suitable for businesses that need to provide simultaneous access to multiple users.